Sensex ends down over 200pts, breadth fairly weak

The Sensex ended (provisional) at  18,101, down 213 points while the Nifty ended (provisional) at  5,547 down 59 points.

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(Updated at 1437 hrs)

Having been in the negative so far in today's trading session, the markets continued to extend losses during late-noon trades. The BSE Sensex was at 18,078, down 236 points, while the S&P CNX Nifty was at 5,446. down 71 points.

All the indices across the Asian markets ended on a week note. The Hang Seng index ended at 22,422, the Shanghai Composite index ended at 2,679, while the Nikkei ended at 9,845, having shed 1%, each.

European indices CAC, DAX and FTSE100 were down, between 0.2-0.5% each.

Among the index stocks - ITC, ICICI Bank and Infosys are the chief draggers, accounting for a loss of over 30 points each on the Sensex. Larsen & Toubro and SBI follow suit with losses of around 25 points each.

NTPC and Cipla are the notable movers, lending five and three points each to the Sensex.

Among individual stocks, Bajaj Auto, the country's second-largest two-wheeler, trades flat after having reported a 14% jump in total sales in July, 2011, to 3,63,712 units. The company sold 3,18,415 units in the corresponding month last year, Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) said in a statement. Exports grew by 35% during July this year to 1,43,996 units from 1,06,794 units in the same month last year, it said.

Ashok Leyland announced bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1, i.e. one free share for every shareholder who holds a share. The record date for deciding the eigibility of a shareholder is decided as August 3, 2011. The stock has gained nearly 3% at Rs 26.50 on going ex-bonus.

The BSE Realty index continues to sag, and is now down 2.5% at 2,000. Bankex and Metal indices are down nearly 2% each.

The market breadth is fairly bearish, with declining shares outnumbering advances in the ratio of 3:1 on the BSE.